COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. --- The Moravian College football team saw the first half of its 2014 season come to a close with a 24-0 Centennial Conference loss at Ursinus College on Saturday as the Greyhounds head into the bye week with a 3-2 record and a 2-2 slate in conference action.
The Hounds had 273 yards of offense on 59 plays including 149 on the ground as freshman running back Eli Redmond ran for 78 yards on eight carries while sophomore running back Chris Negron added 71 yards on 17 carries. Sophomore quarterback Mike Hayes completed 9-of-19 passes for 104 yards while freshman quarterback Kordell Theadford completed his first career pass for 20 yards. Both quarterbacks were intercepted once in the game. Sophomore Liam Nolan led the Greyhounds' receivers with two catches for 58 yards.
Senior linebacker Ed Buoye led the Hounds' defense with 10 tackles while senior defensive back Chris McGrath added eight solo stops, a tackle for loss and a pass break-up. Senior linebacker Kevin Bracken made five stops while sophomore defensive lineman John Snyder, sophomore defensive back Noah Miller and senior linebacker Richard Kugel each had four tackles with Miller breaking up a pass and Snyder recovering a fumble.
On the opening possession of the game, Moravian's defense would force Ursinus into its first fumble of the season as sophomore defensive lineman Chuka Onukwugha hit the Bears' quarterback Kevin Monahan and knocked the ball loose. Snyder covered the ball at the Moravian 20-yard line.
The Hounds were unable to move down the field and would bring junior defensive back Jimmy McCarthy on to punt. Moravian's defense would limit the Bears to a field goal on the next possession.
Moravian's second possession of the game saw the Blue & Grey move the ball down the field and get to the Ursinus 23-yard line before three straight sacks forced another punt that McCarthy had downed at the three-yard line.
After trading punts, Ursinus would extend the lead to 10-0 with 3:16 left in the second quarter.
Moravian would get a 33-yard pass from Hayes to Nolan from midfield to move into the red zone just before the half. However, Hayes' pass for junior wide receiver Will McLaughlin was just high on fourth down as the game went to the intermission at 10-0.
Neither team was able to do much on offense at the start of the second half with the first five possessions all ending in punts. The Bears eventually scored to push the lead to 17-0.
Early in the fourth quarter, Theadford found junior tight end Andrew Racobaldo with a 20-yard pass, and runs of 28 and 12 yards by Redmond moved the Greyhounds to the Ursinus four-yard line. However, Theadford's next pass was intercepted in the end zone to stop Moravian's best scoring threat of the afternoon.
Ursinus finished off the scoring midway through the fourth quarter with its third touchdown of the game.
The Greyhounds have their bye week next Saturday and will return to action on Saturday, October 18 in a Centennial Conference game versus Susquehanna University. Kickoff for Moravian's annual Homecoming game is slated for 1:00 p.m. at Rocco Calvo Field.
